Dust Bawl

Authorities from Jaipur are quick to blame the last Congress government for the present ills. But ask farmers living in villages that dot the hinterland and the answer is the same. Successive governments have failed them. Most villages—ironically named after the distributory feeders (5KD, 6KD etc) from the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP)—have seen a massive exodus. With incomes and agricultural produce plummeting, a region that used to see migrant labourers from Alwar today wears a deserted look. Those who have a large stake in the land continue to hope and fight. The latest agitation started spontaneously on September 27 when farmers were denied water for sowing the rabi crop. The period between late September and early October is crucial for ensuring a good harvest. Successive droughts have meant that since 2000 the kharif crop has virtually disappeared from these parts.

In Gadsana, which saw the initial violence on October 26, the agricultural market committee has seen incomes fall from Rs 2.5 crore last year to a mere Rs 60 lakh this year. Says a senior official there pointing to the desolate market sheds: "Incomes will drop even further next year since farmers haven't been able to sow the winter crop. Just look at the market outside. It used to be full during Diwali, it's completely empty this year."

With hopes pinned on the rabi crop, farmers were disappointed to see that the much hoped-for water wasn't coming. Sporadic protests soon turned into a movement with thousands of farmers from the villages dotting western Sriganganagar arriving in small towns like Gadsana and Rawala to protest. In the adjoining district of Bikaner, the farmers gathered in Kajuwala and Chattargarh.

For over a month, the state refused to recognise they had a major agitation on their hands. None of the officials bothered to react to the crisis, dutifully reported by the agricultural marketing committees in the affected towns. "We kept sending the agricultural production figures—which were falling precariously—but no one seems to have taken notice," says an official from Rawala. Tired with the lack of response from Jaipur, farmers surrounded the sdm's office in Gadsana on October 25 and refused to let the 150 officials go home. The farmers kept the officials hostage for nearly 36 hours, demanding an assurance in writing for more water.As the hours passed, the district police requisitioned additional forces from adjoining areas. On October 26, troops from the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary arrived at Gadsana and immediately decided to lathicharge the protesting farmers. For a town that had not seen violence for almost 30 years, the lathicharge came as a shock. Many were beaten up or picked up by the police for questioning.

Lost in the urgency of containing the agitation is the root cause of the problem—official apathy and lack of planning down the years. When the agreements were drawn up in 1970 for sharing the water from the IGNP, it was decided that 28 lakh acres of cultivable land would be catered for. The first phase would see 12 lakh acres covered while 16 lakh acres would be covered in the next. With political exigencies at hand, the state added another 20 lakh acres to the second phase in 1988. As officials started distributing water to the additional areas, the original recipients of the first phase saw their share dwindle.

Former CPI(M) MLA Hetram Benihal, one of the leaders of the agitation spearheaded by the Kisan-Vyapari Sangharsh Samiti, blames the netas for the mess. "Through the projects, politicians have been lifting water for their own constituencies throwing caution to the winds. Earlier, when Chandmal Baid was the state's irrigation minister, he took water from the project for his hometown Taranagar. Then Devi Singh Bhatti took irrigation canals from the project to his constituency and even former CM Ashok Gehlot took water from the project to supply drinking water to Jodhpur," alleges Benihal. This, he claims, has distributed scarce resources in an unplanned manner, which has led to the present crisis. Opinions though change according to political affiliations. The BJP MLA from neighbouring Kesrisinghpur, O.P. Mahendra, refutes Benihal's claims. "It's a fact, there is no water. But if any decision to reduce supply was taken, it was by the previous Gehlot-government. Our government acted quickly to ensure that money is spent for more water."

In the blame game, even neighbouring Punjab CM Amarinder Singh's name has been dragged in. "For years, we have been asking the Punjab government to repair the gates of the Pong Dam (in Himachal) which also feeds the area. Repair delays have ensured that 1,200 cusecs of water simply flows into Pakistan and we aren't able to tap the resource. While the Rajasthan government has already paid Punjab the money for repairs, it will only take off in April next year," says irrigation secretary S.N. Thanvi. He was rushed from Jaipur on November 2 as the situation in the districts worsened. He had to confront angry farmers demanding the decision by the Gehlot government to reduce water allowance from 5.23 cusecs to 3.5 cusecs be rolled back. But Thanvi says this decision was never implemented, "the agitation is not based on facts". But officials can dispute numbers, for the farmers the only thing that matters is dwindling incomes.

Figures from the Gadsana market committee are telling. In 1999, the region produced 4.08 lakh quintals of wheat. This year, just 0.27 lakh quintals. Cotton has seen production figures plummeting from 4.63 lakh quintals in 1999-00 to 1.23 lakh quintals in 2003-04. In fact, the region is yet to register its first crop of cotton since April this year. The situation in neighbouring Rawala, where three of the four agitating farmers were killed, is similar. From 4.26 lakh quintals of cotton in 1999-2000, figures are down to just a little over 60,000 quintals in 2003-04.

With falling incomes and disappearing neighbours, Devilal Nain is an attentive farmer when the Sangharsh Samiti comes calling on November 2, after curfew had been partially relaxed in Gadsana. "Unlike the Andhra farmers, we'll not commit suicide. We will fight them and ensure we get what is rightfully ours.The government will have to give us our share of the water...if it means those who have been given water in the second phase are deprived of their water, so be it," he says.

In the nearby village of 5 Kotibandh Distributory, Brijlal Bishnoi has little to look forward to. His son Mangelal, 22, was one of the four killed in the firing. Mangelal's wife and two-year-old daughter have one less bread-earner in the family. In these trying times, when the landless Brijlal is without work, Mangelal used to earn a few hundred rupees lifting loads. That income is now gone too. Brijlal says, "I can't even migrate because there is nowhere to go. We came here even before the water came, more than 30 years ago, and I can't leave this place now." In Gadsana, local doctor Dr Rajesh Gaur recounts another woebegone tale. "A few years ago, one of the merchants here used to make lakhs selling pesticides. Now he works for Rs 4,000 a month. The farmers were unable to pay him, he lost everything overnight."

With the economy in a shambles, the locals have rather harsh words for Bikaner MP, filmstar Dharmendra. "Four people are dead, scores injured in the firing, people are leaving in droves, there is no water, yet Dharmendra, who calls himself a Jat, hasn't bothered to visit us," says Vijay Singh, a lawyer. "All we have are dialogues from the campaign that he'd jump from the Qutab Minar to ensure water was given to us...it serves us right for voting for him." In the local halls, Dharmendra's latest flick, Kiss Kis Ki Kismat, makes an early exit. The local anger hasn't.